Once a month cooking (was:freezer storage question)

[Guest guest]

Kristi & Tina (and Heidi and anyone else for that matter),

What kind of recipes are y'all using to do this (once a month cooking)? I got

the book from the library the other day, but they're definitely not NT friendly

recipes. :-)

I would love to try this, but my brain is all used up right now trying to go

GFCF. :-P <--That's me going loony! Aaaack. LOL.

On a side note: Heidi - what do you feed your kids for breakfast and lunch -

anyone else who is GFCF is welcome to chime in. I need ideas!

Thanks! Steph

[Guest guest]

Before I became interested in focusing on nutrition as a culprit/cure, we

did once a month cooking... the food was soggy and lost it's flavor. So we

gave it up... over the years, our diets have changed, our cooking methods

have changed, and our storage methods have changed, and our health has

improved.

As freezing damages food and drinks too much for myself and my children to

digest and absorb properly, I do very little freezer. (Plenty of room if

anyone wants to borrow it though! lol) My prefered method of storage these

days is mason jars ans a food saver. I get the wide mouth jars, and use the

food saver wide mouth jar sealing attatchment. Of course, with five people

in the house, by the time I cut something up it is gone, etc.

But, we do cut up 2 pounds of cheese at a time and store it this way, We cut

up 2 pineapples, and put the leftovers in a jar this way. Melons, and

veggies work great this ways too. The nuts/seeds in the cabinet are kept

this way also. I do store raw meat this way for the cats also (when I have

time). I cut it up into 2 " to 3 " chunks and throw it in a jar...then I pull

it out dump some in a bowl, and everybody reaches in and gets a chunk...less

fights than when it is whole. I leave the food saver out all the time

(middle of the table right now because there are NO counters here!), and

even the 4 year old reseals the jars when he is done!

By the way I homeschool, breastfeed, and attachment parent. I have an almost

12 year old, a 4.5 year old, and a 21 month old. There is no extra time for

anything...but food tastes best when it is fresh! An all the kids get

involved in the food prep. The oldest can cut, the middle washes, and the

youngest takes his job very seriously...making sure you have the next one to

cut up, and that scraps get into the compost bucket. And if they don't

cooperate....everybody gets a little bit hungry! LOL!

So I guess I will mirror the raw dairy list... I live in a mason jar world

(please no more poems, odes, or sonnets!)

L.

>

>Kind of all the things you have listed. I suppose tops would be entrée’

>and casseroles, although entrée’s I think would be something that would

>harder to use frozen. Anything freezeable would help, of course, there

>is absolutely no room in the freezer right now, so I am collecting

>ideas, KWIM.

>

>Kristi

>

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[Guest guest]

Tina,

After reading the other posts here, what you have said sounds like the

best compromise between eating healthy and saving time in the kitchen.

I will take my recipes out and see which parts I can do some preparation

for, to give me a head start on something in this house! LOL

You have been most helpful.

Kristi

RE: Re: Once a month cooking (was:freezer storage

question)

Kristi,

We did have trouble with other people's once a month recipes. We

discovered

that recipes that taste the most fresh are those which are prepared in

part,

but not yet cooked for the final time.

For instance, an uncooked Lasagna freezes well, a mexican casserole

where

the meat is the only pre-cooked ingredient, meatloafs or meatballs

frozen

after they are mixed and formed, but not cooked, taco seasoned meats or

chicken etc (make your seasoning mixes in bulk) work well.

Creole Chicken (or almost any mixed dish) can be frozen, then thawed and

heated and served over fresh rice or potatoes .I cook double the beans

every

time I cook them and freeze the rest for a chili or soup. Soups freeze

especially well, and actually improve in flavor.I went through our

favorite

recipes to see what I could do that would freeze well this way,and found

doing this can be a huge time saver, but the food tastes fresher than

the

typical frozen meals. Remember, when you do meals to be eaten within the

month rather than in 6 months, your deterioration is minimal. Don't try

freezing enchiladas. They fall apart after they are cooked no matter how

you

do it!

When we began to focus on saving part of our kitchen time, and being

organized, we saved quite a bit of money and we were much more satisfied

than with the typical 30 meals.

Tina in TX